Home Theater AV Gear

Home Theater AV Gear

I have a home theater with a lot of AV equipment in it: TiVo, TV, Receiver, Game Console, Blu-ray Player, Projector, etc. I don't like to use flat-screen remotes (iPhones, TV Remote) in the theater because you can't operate them by touch, and have to look at the remote to select options. So I have a Logitech Harmony remote for controlling my home theater. It has "macros" programmed into for one-touch setup of different AV sources. I also have various HomeKit lighting in the theater. I use a macOS app called Harmony Bridge to call up Logitech Harmony macros from within HomeKit.

For example, I have a Harmony macro called "Watch TV". It powers up the TV, turns on the receiver and selects the TV input, and then turns on the projector and selects the HDMI 1 input. Next I create a HomeKit Scene called "Watch TV" that turns on the theater accent lighting to a determined color and brightness, and then runs the Harmony "Watch TV" macro. When that is set up I can say "Hey Siri, watch TV" and the home theater will up and running by the time I get there. It's a great app and has worked flawlessly.